Earth anchor driving and removing apparatus and method therefore

ABSTRACT

A Kelly bar adapter for use with earth anchor driving machinery is disclosed. The adapter allows for pivotal connection of an earth anchor or earth anchor extension rod thereto. Thus, a vertically hanging Kelly rod may be attached to an earth anchor or its associated extension rod while the same is diagonally extending out of the ground. The tool for removing earth anchors having an integral eyelet or an eyelet which is threaded onto an earth anchor is also disclosed.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 07/581,055, filedSep. 12, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,849.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the driving of earth anchors for guy wires orthe like into the earth with earth anchor driving machinery to supportutility poles and the like, and, in particular, to a Kelly bar adapterfor use with such machinery to aid in angularly (obliquely) drivingearth anchors into the earth, and for removing earth anchors from theearth.

Earth anchors are commonly used to secure stay rods, cables, guy wiresand the like in order to brace utility poles and the like. These anchorsare often driven into the ground at an angle such that the anchor iscolinear with the guy wire. As can be seen in FIGS. 1-3 which show priorart earth anchor drivers, a service truck or trailer having ahydraulically operable boom carries a hydraulic motor from which a Kellydrive bar is suspended. A Kelly bar adapter is secured to the end of theKelly bar to connect earth anchors thereto. The anchors are then driveninto the ground by rotatingly driving the Kelly bar and the earthanchor. Flights on the anchor drive the anchor into the earth.

Oftentimes, it is desirable to drive the earth anchor deep into theearth using one or more extension rods. In order to do this, the shaftof the earth anchor is separated from the adapter and the extension rodis connected at one end to the shaft and at another end to the adapter.As can be seen in FIG. 3, the extension rod is received within a rigidsleeve of the adapter. The connection between the adapter and theextension rod or anchor shaft is not pivotal. Thus, in order to connectthe adapter to the extension rod once the extension rod has beenconnected to the angularly positioned anchor shaft, the motor, Kellybar, and adapter must be manually moved into axial alignment with theextension rod so that the extension rod may be attached thereto. This isdifficult and physically demanding work.

The same problem of connecting the adapter to the extension rod occurswhen the anchor is to be removed. However, this time, it applies also tothe earth anchor itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Among the several objects of the invention will be noted the provisionof a Kelly drive bar adapter which allows easy connection of the adapterto an extension rod or earth anchor without undue physical strain;

The provision of such an adapter which allows the ready connection of aKelly bar drive member to an earth anchor or the like which is inclinedwith respect to the vertical;

The provision of such an adapter which is simple in construction, easyto use, and economical to produce; and

The provision of a tool which facilitates the driving or removal of anearth anchor. These and other objects will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art in light of the following disclosure and accompanyingdrawings.

In accordance with the invention generally stated, there is provided aKelly bar adapter for use with earth anchor driving machinery fordriving an earth anchor into the earth at a desired angle. The adapterincludes a lower portion and an upper portion. The upper portionincludes a hollow neck for receiving a Kelly bar which is drivinglyconnected to a motor suspended from a movable boom of a service truck orthe like. The lower portion includes a pair of generally parallel,spaced-apart, downwardly extending side walls defining a channel ofsufficient width to receive an extension rod or an earth anchor.

The side walls include upper and lower apertures or holes. Theseapertures are formed in the side walls so as to be spaced verticallyfrom one another and to be angularly offset with respect to thecenterline of the Kelly bar. The upper and lower apertures of each sidewall are aligned with one another. The extension bar or the earth anchorto be driven thus may be pivotably connected to the angle adapter via afirst pin which extends through the top apertures of the side walls andthrough a bore in the extension rod or earth anchor regardless of theangular relationship between the Kelly bar and the earth anchor.

With the first pin pivotally connecting the earth anchor to the Kellybar these last-said members may readily be pivotally moved relative toone another so as to be in substantial coaxial alignment. A second pinis then inserted through the lower apertures thereby to hold said earthanchor in coaxial alignment with the Kelly drive bar.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided anearth anchor driving or removal tool for driving further into the earthor removing from the earth an earth anchor having an eyelet integralwith, or threadably connected to, the earth anchor at the top thereof.The tool may be used with the above described Kelly bar adapter.

This last-mentioned tool comprises an elongate hollow tube having aninner diameter sufficiently wide to receive the earth anchor eyelet, andan elongate rod. The elongate rod, which is preferably square incross-section, is received within the tube and is connected thereto bymeans of a clevis pin which extends through a bore in the tube and theearth anchor eyelet.

A method of readily attaching an earth anchor to a Kelly drive bar isalso disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are side elevational views of earth anchor drivingmachinery depicting a prior art two step method of driving an earthanchor diagonally into the ground using a prior art Kelly bar adapter;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a prior art Kelly bar adapter;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of earth driving apparatus using aKelly bar adapter of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are bottom plan, front elevational, and sideelevational views, respectively, of the Kelly bar adapter of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 in an enlarged side elevation view of the Kelly bar adapter,taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 4, holding a shaft at an angle;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view similar to that of FIG. 6 showing theKelly bar adapter holding a shaft in a colinear (coaxial) relation to aKelly bar;

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the Kelly bar adapter taken alongline 8--8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an anchor rod removaltool of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the anchor rod removal tool takenalong line 10--10 of FIG. 9;

FIGS 11A-11C are elevational views illustrating three types of earthanchors that may be used in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of second embodiment of the Kelly baradapter equipped with an alignment means and a stop;

FIG. 13 is a front elevational view of the Kelly bar of FIG. 12 with theexterior rod or anchor shaft removed;

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of an alignment plate disposed withinthe Kelly bar adapter of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 15 is a side elevational view of a tongue disposed within the Kellybar adapter of FIG. 12.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the various views of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 generallyindicates earth anchor driving machinery including a hydraulicallymovable boom 3 mounted to a service truck, trailer, or the like 5. Boom3 has a hydraulic motor 7 supported therefrom. A Kelly drive bar 9 issuspended from the motor 7 to be rotated by the motor. As shown in FIGS.1-3, a prior art Kelly bar adapter assembly 111 connects the shaft 13 ofan earth anchor 15 or an extension rod 17 (see FIG. 4) to the Kelly bar9. As is well-known to those skilled in the art, boom 3 may be extendedor retracted, may be pivotally raised and lowered, and may be rotatedabout a vertical axis (as shown by the arrows in FIGS. 1 and 2) so as toproperly position motor 7 and Kelly bar 9 to do a desired task.

Three different embodiments of conventional earth anchors are indicatedat 15, 15' and 15" and are respectively shown in FIGS. 11A-11C. In FIG.11A, it can be seen that earth anchor shaft 13 has flights 19 attachedat the bottom thereof and an eyelet 21 attached at the top thereof.Flights 19 may be welded to the shaft, bolted to the shaft, or threadedonto the shaft. An eyelet 21 is connected to shaft 13 by a pin (notshown) which extends through aligned holes 27, 29 in the eyelet andshaft 13, respectively. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 11B, an eyelet21' may be threadably connected to shaft 13', or as shown in FIG. 11C aneyelet 21" may be integrally formed with shaft 13". Earth anchor 15, asshown in FIG. 11A, is the anchor most commonly used and is the anchorwith which my Kelly bar adapter is intended to be used.

Prior art Kelly bar adapters 111 include an upper sleeve 113 and a lowersleeve 115. Upper sleeve 113 is sized and shaped to receive Kelly bar 9,which, as shown in FIG. 3, may be of hexagonal cross section. Lowersleeve 115 is sized and shaped to receive an earth anchor shaft orextension rod 17. A pair of pins 117 are received in pin bosses 119 oflower sleeve 115 and extend through pin holes 29 in the earth anchorshaft or extension rod to hold the same in lower sleeve 115. It will beseen that lower sleeve 115 fully surrounds the portion of extension rod17 or earth anchor shaft 13 that is received therein. Thus, theextension rod or earth anchor cannot pivot with respect to Kelly bar 9and the Kelly bar and extension rod or earth anchor must be coaxiallyaligned in order to connect the two together. As explained above, thisrequires that the Kelly bar and its associated adapter 111 be pushedinto alignment with the extension rod or earth anchor when they areextending diagonally out of the ground.

FIGS. 4-8 show a Kelly bar adapter 11 of the present invention. Kellybar adapter 11 includes means for allowing the extension rod or earthanchor shaft to pivot with respect to the Kelly bar, thus facilitatingconnection of the extension rod or earth anchor shaft to Kelly baradapter 11. More specifically Kelly bar adapter assembly 11 includes atop portion 31 and a bottom portion 33 which are connected by aplurality of bolts 34. Top portion 31 includes a hollow sleeve 35 sizedand shaped to receive Kelly bar 9. Sleeve 35 is mounted on an upperplate 37. Lower portion 33 includes plate assembly 39 having a first anda second plate 40, 41 both of which are circular in plan. Plates 37, 40and 41 include bolt holes 43 which receive bolts 34 to hold the twoportions 31, 33 together.

Referring to FIGS. 5A-5C, plate 41 includes an off-center, rectangulargroove 45 extending from the front 47 thereof approximatelythree-quarters of the way to the rear thereof. Groove 41 receives innerside walls 49, 50 and inner back wall 51. The inner walls are flanked byouter side walls 52, 53 and outer back wall 54. The side walls form achannel 55 which is sufficiently wide to receive earth anchor 15 orextension rod 17. It will be seen that the side walls, back walls, andplate assembly 39 could all be formed from a single layer of metalrather than from two layers as is preferred.

Inner back wall 51 only extends a portion of the way up outer back wall54 thereby exposing a portion of outer back wall 54 (FIG. 5B). The sidewalls 49, 50, 52 and 53 each include a pair of pin holes 56, 57 whichare angularly spaced with respect to each other (i.e. one is above andbehind the other) to receive a pair of clevis pins 59, 61, bolts, or thelike (FIG. 8). Pin 59 is received through pin hole 56 and shaft bore 29to pivotably connect earth anchor 15 or extension rod 17 to the adapter11 and Kelly bar 9 (FIGS. 4, 6). Pin 61 is used to hold earth anchor 15or extension rod 17 in a colinear relationship with Kelly bar 9 (FIGS.7, 8) for driving the earth anchor into the ground. By pivotably holdingearth anchor 15 or extension rod 17, Kelly bar adapter lower portion 33allows the connection of the Kelly bar 9 to the anchor or extension rodwhile the Kelly bar is hanging vertically and the anchor or extensionrod is extending out of the earth at an angle (FIG. 4). This eliminatesmany of the problems in aligning prior art Kelly bar adapters toextension rods and anchors when they extend diagonally out of theground.

To drive an earth anchor into the ground, an anchor 15 is secured toKelly bar adapter lower portion 33 via clevis pin 59 extending throughside wall pin holes 56 and anchor shaft bore 29. Pin 61 is inserted tohold the anchor 15 and Kelly bar 9 colinearly as in FIGS. 7 and 8. Withthe boom 3 raised and with the earth anchor 15 vertical, as shown inFIG. 1, the anchor is partially driven into the ground. Then by loweringand extending boom 3, anchor 15 is brought to its desired angle anddriven the rest of the way into the ground, leaving anchor shaft bore 29exposed.

Pins 59 and 61 are then removed to disconnect anchor 15 from adapter 11and extension rod 17, if required, may be connected to anchor 15. Boom 3is raised and extended or retracted as needed to align adapter 11 withthe top of extension rod 17. With Kelly bar 9 hanging vertically,extension rod 17 is connected thereto by a single pin 59 insertedthrough pinholes 56, and through a bore in extension rod 17 (FIGS. 4,6). Boom 3 is then lowered and extended as required until extension rod17 and Kelly bar 9 are colinear (FIGS. 7, 8) Then, a second pin 61 isinserted through holes 57 to prevent extension rod 17 and Kelly bar 9from pivoting with respect to each other and anchor 15 is driven therest of the way into the ground.

Removal of the anchor from the ground works in much the same way. Withthe top bore of the extension rod 17 exposed, the extension rod isconnected to lower portion 33 of adapter 11 through pinhole 56 and pin59 while Kelly bar 9 is hanging vertically from boom 3. .Boom 3 is thenlowered and extended until Kelly bar 9 is colinear with rod 17. Pin 61is then inserted through pinhole 57 to keep rod 17 and Kelly bar 9 frompivoting with respect to each other and the extension rod is removedfrom the ground. The extension rod is then disconnected from anchor 15and adapter 11 and the steps are repeated to remove the anchor form theground.

Although anchor 15" of FIG. 11C is not commonly used, there are manysuch anchors in the ground. Anchor 15" includes an anchor shaft 13"which is threaded at one end thereof to receive a plate 19" at thebottom thereof and an eyelet 21" at the top thereof. When anchor 15" isto be replaced or removed, anchor shaft 13" is generally unscrewed fromplate 19", and the shaft 13" is removed, leaving plate 19" in theground. If the shaft cannot be separated from the plate, the anchor rod13" is driven further into the ground. Because these anchors cannot bedirectly connected to adapter 11 or prior art Kelly bar adapters, aremoval or driving tool 70 of the present invention (FIGS. 9 and 10) isused for removal of the shaft 13". Tool 70 also has limited uses onshaft 13' of FIG. 11B. Tool 70 includes an outer cylindrical tube 71 ofsufficient width to receive eyelet 21" of anchor 15", as shown in FIG. 9in the lower end thereof. A square, elongate drive rod 73 is receivedwithin the top of tube 71 and is connected thereto by two clevis pins 74which extend through pin holes 75 and 76 in tube 71 and rod 73. Theupper end of rod 73 is connected to the Kelly bar adapter 11 by a pin 79inserted through a hole 81 in the upper end of rod 73 which is alignedwith upper holes 56 in the side walls of lower portion 33. The lower endof rod 73 within tube 71 is positioned above holes 77 in tube 71 so thatas the open lower end of tube 71 is lowered onto the upper end of earthanchor 15", eye 21" will be aligned with holes 77 when the upper end ofthe anchor abuts against the bottom of rod 73. Another pin 79 may bepassed through holes 77 in tube 71 and through the eye 21" of anchor 15"so as to connect the anchor to tool 70 and to permit the extension rodto be rotatingly driven in either direction by hydraulic motor 7 viaKelly bar 9 and adapter 11 of the present invention. In this manner, theextension rod may then be driven further into the ground or removed fromthe ground as desired in the same manner described above. It will beappreciated that pin 79 is not used if anchor rod 15" is to be driveninto the ground. Tool 70 may under certain conditions also be useddirectly with anchor 15' shown in FIG. 11B which has an eyelet 21'threadably connected to anchor shaft 13'. Neither of the anchors 15' or15" have a holes similar to holes 29 in anchor 15. Earth anchor 15", asshown in FIG. 11C, is the anchor with which tool 70 is preferably used.

Turning to FIGS. 12 and 13, a second embodiment of the Kelly baradapter, as generally indicated at 211, is shown. Adapter 211 includes aplate assembly 239 identical to plate assembly 39 of adapter 11. Sidewalls having inner plates 249, 250 and outer plates 252, 253 depend fromplate assembly 239. Plates 249-253 are similar to plates 49-53. Theyinclude upper and lower pin holes 256 and 257, respectively, which arediagonally offset from each other. Plates 249-253 also include a thirdpin hole 258 forward of pin hole 257 and parallel with upper pin hole256.

Adapter 211 further includes a plate 262 (see FIG. 14) used to aid inaligning the eyelet of extension rod 17 with pin hole 256 and a tongue263 (see FIG. 15) used to prevent undue pivoting of extension rod 17within adapter 211. Plate 262 and tongue 263 may be used separately ortogether. Plate 262 is received in groove 245 of plate 241 of plateassembly 239 between inner side walls 249 and 250. A bolt hole 265,aligned with a plate assembly bolt hole 243 allows for securing plate262 in adapter 211. When extension rod 17 is received in adapter 211, itbuts up against the bottom of plate 262. Stop 262 is sufficiently wideso that when extension rod 17 butts up against it, the eyelet of theextension rod is aligned with bolt hole 256 so that bolt 259 may bepassed therethrough to secure extension rod 17 in adapter 211. Plate 262thus facilitates securing extension rod 17 to adapter 211.

Plate 262 further includes a downwardly facing arcuate groove 266 whichextends the width thereof. Groove 266 is formed to be above extensionrod 17 to allow extension rod 17 to pivot within adapter 211. As can beseen in FIG. 12, the leading edge of stop 262 is preferably forward ofthe front of extension rod 17.

Tongue 263 comprises a trapzoidal plate assembly having a horizontalbottom 263a, a vertical forward edge 263b, and a rear edge which has avertical portion 263c extending from the bottom edge and a diagonalportion 263d which extends between the vertical portion and the frontedge. Tongue 263 preferably is made of three identical plates which arewelded together to span the width between inner side walls 249 and 250.It includes a pair of bolt holes 268 and 269 which are aligned with pinholes 257 and 258 in the side walls of adapter 211. Bolt hole 269 ispreferably smaller in diameter the hole 257.

Tongue 263 is pivotally connected to adapter 211 in front of extensionrod 17 by a bolt 267, clevis pin or the like, which extends through boltholes 258 and 268. A second bolt, pin or the like may be passed throughbolt holes 257 and 269 to secure tongue 263 in adapter 211 to prevent itfrom pivoting. Thus, with bolts, pins or the like extending through bothbolt holes 268 and 269, tongue 263 will prevent pivotal motion ofextension rod 17 in adapter 211 when such motion is undesired. Thesecond bolt may be removed, allowing tongue 263 to pivot and thusallowing extension rod 17 to pivot in adapter 211 when such motion isdesired.

Numerous variations, within the scope of the appended claims will beapparent to the those skilled in the art in light of the foregoingdescription and accompanying drawings.

What is claimed is:
 1. An earth anchor driving or removal tool forduring an earth anchor further into the earth, or for removing an earthanchor or earth anchor shaft from the earth, using conventional earthanchor driving machinery, the later comprising a truck-mounted boom, ahydraulic drive motor suspended from the boom, and a Kelly bar driven bysaid motor, said boom being selectively movable so as to properlyposition said motor for doing a task, said earth anchor having aneyelet, and an earth anchor shaft, and adapter carried by said Kellybar, said tool comprising an elongate hollow cylindrical tube forreceiving said earth anchor eyelet, and an elongate drive rod whichreceived within and secured to said tube, said rod extending from theupper end of said tube and being connected to said adapter, said tubeincluding means below said rod for securing said earth anchor thereto.2. The tool as set forth in claim 1 wherein said earth anchor securingmeans includes aligned holes in said tube and a clevis pin, bolt or thelike which extends through said holes and through said earth anchoreyelet to secure said earth anchor to said tool.
 3. The tool of claim 1,wherein tube is of circular cross section and said rod is square incross section.
 4. An earth anchor driven or removal tool for driving anearth anchor further into the earth, or for removing an earth anchor oran earth anchor shaft from the earth, using conventional earth anchordriving machinery, the later comprising a truck-mounted boom, ahydraulic drive motor suspended from the boom, a Kelly bar driven bysaid motor, and an adapter carried by said Kelly bar, said adaptercomprising a pair of downwardly extending generally parallel side wallsdefining a channel, each side wall having a first and a second spacedapart bore therethrough with the first and second bores of each sidewall being side walls, a pin insertable through said first bores andsaid side walls, a pin insertable through said first bores and upper endof said rod received between said side walls thereby to pivotally securesaid rod to said adapter while said Kelly bar is hanging from saidboom;said boom being selectively movable so as to properly position saidmotor for doing a task; said earth anchor having an eyelet and an earthanchor shaft; said tool comprising an elongate hollow tube for receivingsaid earth anchor eyelet, and an elongate drive rod which receivedwithin and secured to said tube, said rod extending from the upper endof said tube and being connected to said adapter, said tube includingmeans below said rod for securing said earth anchor thereto; said earthanchor securing means including aligned holes in said tube and a clevispin, bolt or the like which extends through said holes and through saidearth anchor eyelet to secure said earth anchor to said tool.
 5. Amethod of removing a diagonally extending earth anchor or an earthanchor shaft removably connected to an earth anchor flight from theearth using conventional earth anchor driving machinery, the earthanchor having an eyelet on the upper end thereof, said earth anchordriving machinery comprising a selectively movable boom pivotallymounted on a service truck or the like, a motor suspended from saidboom, a Kelly bar depending from said motor to be rotatably driven bysaid motor, and a connector means carried by said Kelly bar forconnecting said earth anchor to said Kelly bar, said method comprisingthe steps of:a) with said Kelly bar hanging vertically, pivotallyconnecting said connector means to said earth anchor; b) effectingmovement of said boom so that said Kelly bar is substantially coaxiallyaligned with said earth anchor; c) securing said Kelly bar and saidearth anchor in substantially coaxial alignment via said connectormeans; and d) driving said motor so as to remove said earth anchor orsaid earth anchor shaft from the earth.
 6. A method of driving an earthanchor into the earth at an inclined angle with respect to the verticalutilizing conventional earth anchor driving machinery, wherein the earthanchor includes an eyelet at the upper end thereof, said earth anchordriving machinery comprising a selectively movable boom pivotallymounted on a service truck or the like, a motor suspended from saidboom, a Kelly bar connected to said motor to be rotatingly driven bysaid motor, and connector means for connecting said earth anchor to saidKelly bar, said method comprising the steps of:a) with said Kelly barhanging vertically, pivotably connecting said earth anchor to said Kellybar; b) moving said boom so as to substantially axially align said Kellybar with said earth anchor at said inclined angle; c) securing saidKelly bar and earth anchor in substantially coaxial alignment via saidconnector means; and d) driving said earth anchor further into theearth.